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The Piano Lesson Research Paper

562 Words3 Pages

An important theme in The Piano Lesson is the motivations of men versus the motivations of woman and how they differ. Throughout the play, Boy Willie is focused on selling the Piano and essentially giving up the history of it, in order to move on. He not once contemplates the decision, he is persistent in selling it, he is persistent in progress. The history of the piano is meaningless to Boy Willie, because he is focused on future. On the other hand, Berniece is completely firm on keeping the piano because of its family history. She feels that it means much more than it is worth in money. History means a lot to Berniece and she will do anything to stop Boy Willie from selling their family history even if Boy Willie is going to buy land with …show more content…

If this same theme is studied in Fences, then their is completely different views for the men and women, which shows that there was a big difference between the decades that August Wilson was portraying. For example, in Fences, Rose is focused on moving on, while Troy is stuck in the past. When it comes to Cory playing football, Troy doesn’t want him to play because of his own past experiences playing baseball. Troy feels that Cory will get treated unfairly because he is black compared to other white kids because that is what happened to Troy when he tried to make it as a baseball player. Rose is the one who is being progressive and focused on moving on from history. She even tells Troy that “Times have changed from when you was young, Troy. People change. The world’s changing around you and you can’t even see it” (1076). Rose is saying that Troy should stop focusing on the past history of how he was treated and move on. This quote shows pretty straightforward that August Wilson’s portrayal of women and men’s views on life are completely different than in the Piano

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395 Words | 2 Pages

have a great relationship with Boy Willie. Once Lymon notices the piano and tells Boy Willie, this is where the drama begins. Boy Willie tells Lymon that he wants to sell the piano because he thinks it is worth a lot of money. Doaker already knows that Berniece will not let him sell the piano because of the significance it has within the family. Another reason Berniece does not want to sell the piano is because her daughter, Maretha, is learning how to play it.

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Let's Get It Loaded Before Berniece Come Back By Maggie

640 Words | 3 Pages

“Papa Boy Charles brought that piano into the house. Now I’m supposed to uild on what they left me”(Wilson 51).If Boy Willie purchases the land he will be able to do more and help his family because he will prosper if he sell it instead of having it sit in Berniece’s house. Boy Willie wants to avoid an argument with Berniece so he decides to take the piano while she is at work. “Come on,let’s get it loaded before Berniece come

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875 Words | 4 Pages

In the play “Fences”, written in 1957 by August Wilson annotates how Troy’s childhood experiences affected his life and put a strain on his relationship with family and friends. Troy’s enormous amount of pride, flaw of judgment, and malicious actions lead to his shortcomings and resulted into him becoming a tragic hero. In the story, Troy had a lot of flaws in his character throughout the play. As Troy was growing up he never had the proper guidance, so he had to take care of himself the best way he could.

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August Wilson Selfish Quotes

549 Words | 3 Pages

Don’t you think I had dreams and hopes? What about my life? What about me” (70). Rose, rightly so, is enraged when Troy defends his actions by saying he has been stuck his whole life with her, when she has gone through the same thing. The only difference, however, is that Rose stays loyal to her family even when things are not going great, while on the other hand Troy looks out for himself for his own benefit, at the expense of his family.

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1619 Words | 7 Pages

Their experiences are part of the story and build on the dynamics between the characters. Troy Maxson is a great example of a character who we understand through background information without context, his actions are hard to sympathize with. Troy's life is filled with struggles from his upbringing, work, racial discrimination, and limited opportunities. Troy's current relationship with his family in the book isn't removed from his past. Before his marriage to Rose, he was married and had a child, during this time he was at a point where he had no resources.

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664 Words | 3 Pages

This forces them into two opposing spectrums and neither at the beginning of the play are willing to back down from their respective views. While Boy Willie mentions Boy Charles in his reasoning to sell the piano, Berniece remembers Mama Ola when she talks about keeping the piano. Watching and hearing about both of their parents shapes their opinion on what should be done with the piano and their point of views. However, at the end of the play Boy Willie backs down from his stance when he sees Berniece play the piano and call on her ancestors to stop Sutter’s ghost. In this moment, Boy Willie sees the importance of the piano and no longer tries to forcefully remove the piano.

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883 Words | 4 Pages

It additionallyconveys the emotional barrier that Troy puts between them. Furthermore, Troy ruins his marriageby cheating on his wife, Rose, by having an affair with another woman named Alberta. Howeverunlike Rose, who strives to build a fence around her family, Troy attempts to evade capture in thefence. He doesn't have the capacity to understand that Rose wants to keep the family close becausehe never truly had a close family. As a result, Troy ends up driving everybody away just like hisfather.

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The play describes the life of Troy Maxson a middle age Africa-American man who was raising his family in time of racism. Troy is married to Rose and the father of three children. Troy has two sons Lyons and Cory, and a daughter named Raynell. August Wilson describes the life of Troy as someone who feels he is being oppressed and how different the culture was when his was a child growing up compared to his children’s lives.

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985 Words | 4 Pages

From the readers point of view, it is obvious that Rose is too good for Troy, but Rose constantly is faithful to Troy. This shows a special aspect of marriage and the relationship between Troy and Rose. It shows the level of commitment it takes to be in a marriage, but it also show the lack of commitment and gratitude that could be in a marriage. Troy ends up cheating on Rose, because he began to take what he had for granted.

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How Does August Wilson Use Language In Fences

1010 Words | 5 Pages

He has a softer tone in the dialogue with Rose which shows that he does care about Cory. He is tough on Cory because he doesn’t want his son to experience the same things as he, as a black male in the mid-century, endured. He believes that a sturdy hand will lead his son in the right direction and prepare him for a harsh world. Troy tells Rose, “He’s got to make his own way. I made mine.

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574 Words | 3 Pages

He seems to be pushed around in one form or another and in the end quite literally. There is that underlying fight going on throughout the entire play. The past fighting back, so it is never forgotten. Boy Willie is trying to escape the crushing weight of his family’s legacy by trying to conquer it in one foul swoop by purchasing that land he puts his identity on that plan and the conflict between him and Berniece arises. This shows Willie being a slave to the past as well but on a different level he wants to change the past by getting rid of it entirely with the piano.

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978 Words | 4 Pages

Troy is controlling and often verbally abusive to his family members because he lacks a sense of control in other areas of his life, he is unable to achieve his dream of becoming a pro-baseball player or advance in his career and this makes him feel inadequate. Troy’s wife Rose represents a stereotypical mother and dutiful wife role. Rose has two disadvantages in her life because she is not only African American, she is also a woman and in some ways she is the wife you would expect during the 1950s era. Rose however, is not weak minded because she recognizes how times have changed and this what makes Troy and Rose so drastically different throughout the play. Their contrasting ideologies represent two different aspects of the “African American Experience” by showing a major question many African Americans faced during the 1950s and that is: “are times really changing?.”

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